5 Surprising Signs He's Hooked
by wingz of an angel
Summary: What happens when Derek calls Casey by the wrong name: Sally! These are one shots that culminate at the end. So maybe not one shots in the true sense of the word, but it's Dasey and that's all that really matters right? I own nothing except storyline.
1. What's in a name?

**Five Surprising Signs He's Hooked:**

He calls you by the wrong name.

You've met all his friends.

He remembers more about your life than you do.

He's not out on the town as much.

He cares if there's air in your tires. Or whether your work parking lot is well-lit. Or whether you've got enough OJ when you get the sniffles...

**One:**

Nicknames were Derek's thing. From Baby and honey for the girls whose names he couldn't be bothered to remember, to Case, Space-Case, Klutzilla, and Keener for the one girl whose name he couldn't get out of his head. He tried, always unsuccessfully, to replace her name in his head with those of the many girls he serial dated his first few years at Queens, but nothing really worked and his feelings for her gradually progressed from completely platonic step-sibling toleration to love, and long-term relationship, in the most serious type of way.

Casey hated nicknames, always had. She'd never had much luck with names either—Derek as Ralph and vice versa—but nicknames, particularly the ones Derek called her, were never her cup of tea. She could have chalked it up to feminism, but her ideals really had little to do with the names being called, and everything to do with the one doing the name calling. She tried retaliating with the obvious: "DER-EK!" but when that produced no results, she simply gave in and acknowledged her worst fear: she was in love with Derek.

Luckily for everyone, awkward encounters, heat-of-the-moment decisions, and fights so full of frustratingly tangible unresolved sexual tension that even George noticed, _were_ their thing, and, once both realized their irrevocable and unarguable attachment to the other, things went smoothly from there. Actually, they didn't. And that's the point; they got together their junior year of university (finally!), but the road to happiness is never easy, and they struggled.

Dasey had their ups and downs, but they've stayed together through it all. What Casey can't deal with, however, is the sudden reappearance of Sally in their lives. Not that she showed up demanding Derek back or was a constant throughout their entire relationship, but the fact that she was between Casey and Derek, yet again, was nothing short of annoying.

The first time it happened, Casey, and Derek for that matter, was shocked. He asked her to hand him the remote so he could change the channel from her show: Dancing With the Stars, to his: Hockey, but accidently called her Sally. Casey handed him the remote and was so surprised that she didn't even complain that he was stealing the TV. And, of course, being how she is, Casey over analyzed every aspect of their relationship, dating back to the first time they met, that could possibly make her remind Derek of Sally. She came up with nothing.

The second time was equally as shocking, though not nearly as mundane; Derek and Casey were at a Leaf's game for Derek's birthday and he had just introduced a friend of his on the Leaf's team to his girlfriend, interestingly named "Sally… er, I mean, Casey, McDonald." He slept on the couch for a week.

When it happened again, Casey was prepared. She had even made notecards explaining why, if Derek was so preoccupied with Sally all of a sudden, Casey needed to break up with him. Derek called her over to him at a party to ask her when she wanted to leave, called her Sally on accident, and subsequently lost himself a girlfriend.

Casey, in tears, pulled out her notecards, and began reading them off one by one, while Derek stood their helplessly and the entire population of the party watched eagerly. After she reached number six of ten, Casey couldn't take it anymore, and just broke down.

"I love you," she told him despairingly, "and that means that I want to see you happy. And if you being happy means you're better off with someone else, go to Sally with my blessing."

Derek just stared at her.

Then he replied, "Casey, me being happy means you being happy. Actually, me being happy means you; what Sally and I had was great, but what's between us is so much more than that. I love you, not Sally or anyone else, only you."

Casey looked up, tearfully, and asked him, "Then why the name mix-up? Are we that similar to you, like I'm replaceable with the next available brunette who comes along and is willing to date you?"

Derek looked momentarily perplexed. "I have a hunch, but I honestly don't know. All I know is you are the only girl for me, and I'm serious about you, Casey McDonald."

Casey sighed deeply, for appearances, and, seeing he would get on his knees and beg if she wanted him to, took him back. She hit him once on the chest for his name confusion, gave him a quick, chaste kiss on his lips, and flounced out of the party, clearly indicating that she wanted to leave.

Derek thought of all the names he had called her, good or bad, touched his lips where she'd kissed them, as if her touch left a trace, and decided that beautiful was the only name she deserved.

To Derek Venturi, Casey McDonald is addictive, and he is hooked.


	2. Just when you thought you'd seen it all

**Two:**

Casey thought she knew Derek. After years of living together, and, finally, dating, she thought she had him figured out. And then she met the guys.

Derek had always been careful about how much of his life Casey witnessed. Sure, he loved her more than life itself (on most days), but he knows how she can be and he didn't want to trouble her anymore than necessary. Particularly since most things he neglected to tell her would probably be over analyzed as reflecting negatively on her or their relationship. After three years of dating though, Derek was getting serious and, since he's not really a touchy feely, express yourself kind of guy, there was only one way he could think of to express how much Casey means to him and how much he wanted to wake up next to her every morning for the rest of their lives, no matter how difficult it [she] got.

So he called in a few favors with the managers of various Canadian and American hockey teams, cleared his schedule for the weekend, and, basically wore his heart on his sleeve for Casey to observe, analyze, reanalyze, and, hopefully not, crush.

A few days later, Derek and Casey were sitting at the bar of Toronto's Fairmont Royal York, waiting for her surprise. When the three of them arrived, Austin, Richard, and Jack, they were, at first, very cordial to Casey. After giving the expected man hugs to Derek, the three of them introduced themselves, and where they hailed from, and promptly, and politely, argued over who would buy her a drink.

Casey was, of course, flattered by the attention, and thought Derek could serve to learn a few pointers from those friends of his. It wasn't until after they left the bar and went out on the town, however, that her perspective of the guys changed, dramatically.

They were still polite, to her; but to Derek they quickly became, actually, just like him. It was as if being together suddenly transported them from their respective ages and back to age 16, where they were all nasty, crude, and annoying boys. Despite this, Casey, and Derek, after noticing that she wasn't scared away by his friends, had a good time that night and both found themselves looking forward to the next day.

When she awoke the next morning, however, Casey found herself outside her and Derek's apartment door, without a key. When she finally managed to uncover the long ago hidden spare from under the flower pot down the hall, she entered the apartment to find it looking apparently normal. Waking up outside was definitely odd, but, after seeing the apartment, she figured she just slept walked in the middle of the night. It didn't cross her mind that she and Derek shared the one-room apartment and, since he wasn't currently there, he must have left through the door, thereby passing her asleep outside it. She simply grabbed cereal out of the cupboard, made herself a much needed cup of coffee and, figuring Derek had left earlier to go out with the guys, sat down for some down time before the day began.

Derek, meanwhile, was sitting in the next door neighbor's apartment, nervously chewing at his fingernails as his buddies chortled over the chaos that was sure to ensue after Casey woke up and discovered their prank. The neighbor was out of town and had left a key with Casey and Derek so they could check up on the apartment every once in a while, and Derek's friends had convinced him to, in the middle of the night, switch the entire décor of his and Casey's bedroom with that of the next door neighbor. He gave in to his friends' crazy idea, hoping that Casey would be reminded of the good ol' days when he used to prank her, and not kick him out for his stupidity. Actually, at that moment, he was wishing that he had just stayed with the pranking and not gotten serious with her at all, thereby avoiding the entire situation all together. Unfortunately, he loved her and wouldn't have been content with that even if he'd tried.

Casey's relaxation lasted longer than expected, however, and Austin, Dick, and Jack all left, flying back to where ever they came from to practice for whatever hockey game they had coming up. In Derek's opinion, they were all cowards and left early because they didn't want to face Casey's wrath, but they assured him that, if they could stay, they wouldn't miss her reaction for the world. Despite his grating nerves, Derek agreed with them on that one.

After they left, Derek, fearing for his life, and valuing his relationship with Casey more than with the guys, attempted to quietly re-enter their apartment and switch back the two bedrooms to their original décor. A job easily completed by four well-muscled professional hockey players is not nearly as simple with only one professional hockey player, no matter how well-muscled. Unfortunately for Derek, this meant that Casey woke up from the nap that she had accidently taken after finishing her cereal and coffee, and caught him in the middle of recreating their bedroom's original look.

He quickly tried to chalk it off to redecorating, but Casey knows him better than he might think and she knew that he was up to something. She went into their bedroom and promptly had a freak out.

Derek attempted to calm her down with various excuses, but she refused to stop yelling at him until he told her exactly what happened to the bedroom. He told her about placing her out of the way as they moved belongings from one apartment's bedroom to the other, and, finally, leaving her out in the hallway without a key as a means of annoying her. Derek also told her that it was all his friends' idea, so she let him off easy and he only slept outside, in the hallway, for a few hours that night before she let him back in.

When the weekend began, Derek worried that his friends would push Casey away and cause her to realize that Derek was not really the man she thought. The night they left, however, after she took pity on him sitting forlornly out in the hall, and they snuggled up on the couch for a late night movie, when he asked her what she thought of his friends, her answer floored him and left him utterly speechless. While they were not what she expected, though they should have been, they did love Derek and, if they made him happy and supported him with their friendships, Casey figured she could put up with Derek's friends for however long Derek chose to put up with her.

Besides, friends like that made Casey realize how lucky she is to have a boyfriend like Derek. He respects her, loves her, takes care of her, and, if he trusts her enough to let her meet _all_ of his friends, especially when she didn't think they could get much worse than Ralph, Derek obviously is much more serious about her than Casey even realized.

To Derek Venturi, Casey McDonald's easy acceptance of his friends, all of them, made her irresistible. Her love is his drug, and he's hooked.


	3. I'd forget it all to remember you

**Three:**

Derek looked at his watch and sighed. Casey was late. If he didn't already know where she was and why she was a bit behind, he'd be a little worried, but lately it seemed like Derek was the responsible one in the relationship and Casey was always a little bit scatterbrained and in a hurry.

She had ranted to him all last night about this last minute work meeting, and how it was going to cut into their anniversary dinner, which she had been scrupulously planning since the last one—a month ago. Derek had smiled and nodded as they sat on the couch in front of the TV, more focused on the hockey game than on Casey, but when she sighed exasperatedly and looked at him with that adorable face of hers, he actually turned off the TV and listened to her full on.

Casey was surprised, to say the least, but she took it in stride and continued her rant. When they'd said goodbye that morning before heading their separate ways, she had reminded him of her meeting, kissed him quickly and walked out the door.

Derek looked up from his musings as he was hit with a blast of cold air and the restaurant door opened to reveal a bundled, frantic Casey. He smiled at the sight of her rosy cheeks and pink nose from the cold and marveled, not for the first time, how lucky he was to have her. His friends, when they'd visited a couple weeks ago had said as much, and Derek had really been noticing, even more than usual, how great his girlfriend really was.

In his quick reflection, Derek missed the look of worry on Casey's face as she apologized for being late.

"Babe, it's no big deal," he said soothingly. "You reminded me this morning so I knew you had a meeting. I was fine."

Casey looked puzzled for a moment then leaned over and kissed him.

"I had completely forgotten I told you. All I could think about was you sitting all alone in the restaurant, not knowing where I was!" she told him breathlessly, still out of breath from her quick walk from her building to the little place they were having dinner.

"Believe it or not, Case," Derek said, "I do actually listen to you. It may not seem like it sometimes, but I do listen."

She sighed. "I know you do, Derek. I just forget sometimes that we're together now and you've stopped tuning me out like you used to do when we were younger."

Derek looked at Casey and took her face in his hands. He looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Casey, I will always listen to you. I might not always agree or understand, but you are important to me, so what you say is important to me. If you care enough to share your life with me, the least I can do is care enough to remember what you say."

"Aww, Derek! That's so sweet. I love you." She kissed him.

"Happy anniversary, Case. I love you too"

* * *

><p>A few weeks later, Derek and Casey were dressing for work, and Casey was struggling with finding something to wear. They were attending Emily and Sheldon's wedding that weekend, so all of their clothes were at the cleaners. Casey was literally contemplating going to work in Derek's clothes when she found a shirt hanging in the far back of her closet that matched her slacks and shoes perfectly. She took her clothes out of the closet so she could be with Derek in their bedroom and not alone in the closet, and laid the clothes on the bed.<p>

Upon seeing what she planned to wear, Derek looked at her questioningly.

"What's wrong?" Casey asked him when she saw the look he was giving her.

"I just thought that you hated that shirt. That's why you always put it back in the closet after you wear it. You feel bad because my Dad got it for you so you don't want to throw it away, but whenever you wear it you come home complaining about it."

"That's silly, Derek. I don't even remember wearing this shirt ever, so I don't know why you think it looks bad on me!" she replied angrily.

Derek threw his hands in the air exasperatedly. "Give me a break, Case! You asked and I answered. Besides, I never said that you don't look good in it, you did!"

Casey huffed, finished getting dressed, grabbed her keys, and left, slamming the door behind her.

Derek rolled his eyes and sighed. Casey could be so dramatic sometimes. He had been pretty sure about that shirt, but he'd been wrong before so he thought he'd apologize when they got home and make it up to her with some flowers and dark chocolate.

Casey didn't even last that long. She showed up at the rink around lunch time, wearing a completely different shirt. She looked at him with a little pout and said quietly, "I'm sorry, Derek."

He couldn't stay mad at her, not when it was partly his fault anyway, and besides, he loved her too much.

"Oh, Case, it's fine. I just figured you were a little tired or I was wrong about the shirt."

She grimaced a little at that. "Nope, you were right. It's an awful shirt," she said. "I don't know what on earth George was thinking by buying that! I'm just amazed that you remembered that instead of me."

"What can I say," Derek said, grinning. "I'm observant, especially when it's about you. Guess I just remember more about your life than you do. It's probably because you're distracted by how good-looking your boyfriend is."

Casey scoffed.

Derek drew her closer to him, and said to her in a low, husky voice, "Or maybe I'm the one who's distracted."

Casey stood on her tiptoes and gave him a long, lingering kiss. She looked up at him and said, equally huskily, "Let's call it a draw," and then went back to kissing him.

That's generally how their disagreements ended; Casey kissing Derek when she was sorry, or Derek kissing Casey out of sheer need to get her to stop ranting at him. Whatever the reasoning behind it, it worked for them, and he couldn't get enough of it.

They say the first step in overcoming addiction is admitting you have a problem. For Derek, that was never going to happen, because loving Casey was no problem.


End file.
